US3643099A - Electro-optical network for selectively producing a single pulse or pulse train in response thereto of a single trigger pulse - Google Patents

Electro-optical network for selectively producing a single pulse or pulse train in response thereto of a single trigger pulse Download PDF

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Publication number
US3643099A
US3643099A US73052A US3643099DA US3643099A US 3643099 A US3643099 A US 3643099A US 73052 A US73052 A US 73052A US 3643099D A US3643099D A US 3643099DA US 3643099 A US3643099 A US 3643099A
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Prior art keywords
pulse
diode
electro
voltage
optical network
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Expired - Lifetime
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US73052A
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English (en)
Inventor
Sadahiko Yamashita
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Panasonic Holdings Corp
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Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
    • H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
    • H03K3/00—Circuits for generating electric pulses; Monostable, bistable or multistable circuits
    • H03K3/02—Generators characterised by the type of circuit or by the means used for producing pulses
    • H03K3/42—Generators characterised by the type of circuit or by the means used for producing pulses by the use, as active elements, of opto-electronic devices, i.e. light-emitting and photoelectric devices electrically- or optically-coupled
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H03—ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
    • H03K—PULSE TECHNIQUE
    • H03K3/00—Circuits for generating electric pulses; Monostable, bistable or multistable circuits
    • H03K3/02—Generators characterised by the type of circuit or by the means used for producing pulses

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT An electro-optical network having electrically isolated units, one of said units containing an injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode and another of said units containing a pulse-generating diode in series with a photoconductive element positioned in radiation-coupled relationship with said first-mentioned diode.
  • Both of the pulse-generating diodes are of the type in which they start oscillation at a certain predetermined bias voltage V, and cease to oscillate at another predetermined voltage V lower than V,.
  • VbV Under the bias conditions of V, VbV when a single trigger pulse is applied to the injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode, it starts to oscillate, emitting light from the PN junction. The light thus emitted irradiates the photoconductive element, causing a reduction in the resistance thereof. Consequently, a voltage as applied across said pulse-generating diode increases, rendering it for oscillation. With a bias of Vb V the application of the single pulse produces only a single output pulse.
  • FIGS. 2 and 3 are graphs explaining the principle of the oscillation achievable with the pulse-generating diode of FIG.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode employed in the present electro-optical network
  • FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the present electro-optical network.
  • the pulse generator 10 as applicable in this invention has a diode configuration and comprises a wafer 11 of a semiconductor material such as one having two valleys in its conduction band.
  • the material of the wafer 11 may comprise gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, indium arsenide or cadmium telluride.
  • the wafer 11 is, for example, N-type and has a highly resistive layer 12 formed adjacent one of the two major surfaces thereof. Diffusion or crystal growth may be utilized to dope an impurity, locally lowering the conductivity of the wafer 11 to thereby form the highly resistive layer 12 of 1/! e.
  • the impurity may comprise, for example, iron, nickel, copper, chromium, cobalt or manganese.
  • Electrodes 13 and 14 Deposited upon and in ohmic contact with both of the major surfaces of the wafer 11 are conducting electrodes 13 and 14 which may comprise tin alloy, eutectic mixture of gold and germanium and the like. Connections to these electrodes 13 and 14 are made by lead wires 15 and 16, respectively, which are connected across a power source 17 of variable DC voltage in series with a load resistance 18.
  • this diode may switch between a high and low current situation due to the effect of the avalanche multiplication and to the trapping effect in deep impurity centers.
  • FIG. 3 is a plot of voltage Va appearing across the diode 10 against time I, when the magnitude of the bias voltage Vb is sinusoidally changed during a half cycle. As shown, the voltage Va increases with increasing bias voltage Vb. At the time I, when Vb reaches V the diode 10 starts to oscillate, so that the voltage Va cyclically varies between V and V as described in connection with FIG. 2.
  • the diode may be characterized as follows. l) The upper limit of the repetition rate is determined by the property of the diode itself, and the lower limit is reduced by increasing the RC time constant of the external circuit. (2) The pulse-repetition rate has been varied by a DC bias current of the order of IO. (3) A large output voltage of up to 50 volts (for a 50-ohm resistive load) is obtained with a pulse width of a nanosecond.
  • FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically an injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode 30 of the electro-optical network according to this invention.
  • the diode 30 comprises an N-type GaAs wafer 31 having a highly resistive layer 32 formed adjacent one major surface thereof.
  • An impurity such as iron is diffused into the wafer 31 to locally lower the conductivity to thereby form the highly resistive layer 32 of v type.
  • a combination of the N-type region 33 and the highly resistive layer 32 comprises the semiconductor pulse generator described in connection with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.
  • a P-type region 34 containing P-type determining impurity such as zinc Adjacent the opposite major surface of the wafer 31 there is formed a P-type region 34 containing P-type determining impurity such as zinc.
  • the wafer 31 has formed between the N- and P-type regions 31 and 34 a PN junction 35 at which injection electroluminescence takes place when biased in the forward direction.
  • Conducting electrodes 36 and 37 are deposited upon and in ohmic contact with each of the two major surfaces, respectively, of the wafer 31.
  • the conducting electrodes 36 and 37 are connected to a bias voltage source (not shown) by means of lead wires 38 and 39, respectively.
  • FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the present electro-optical network.
  • the injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode 30, is shown equivalently as enclosed within a dash rectangle and, comprising an injection-electroluminescent diode 40 and a pulse generator 41.
  • the pulse generator 41 is connected through a resistor 42 to an input terminal 43, while the injection-electroluminescent diode 40 is connected to a source 44 of DC bias voltage Vb which in turn is grounded as at 45.
  • the DC voltage source 44 is adjusted so that V Vb V while the DC voltage source 48 is adjusted so that Vb V,.
  • a single pulse having a sufficiently large amplitude as shown in FIG. 6(a) is applied at the input terminal 43, a voltage as applied across the pulse generator portion 41 of the diode 30 exceeds its threshold value V causing the diode 30 to start oscillating. Since the bias voltage is above V the diode 30 continues to oscillate until a negative pulse is applied thereto.
  • current flows through the PN junction 35, causing excess minority carriers to be injected into the semiconductor wafer 31. Upon recombination of the minority carriers with majority carriers, light is emitted at the junction 35.
  • V only a single output pulse is obtained, as shown in' FIG. 6(0), in response to application of a single pulse to the input terminal 43. This is because the pulse-generating diode 41 cannot continue to oscillate under the bias conditions of Vb, V
  • the electro-optical network according to this invention is capable of selectively generating a single pulse or a coherent pulse train in response to application thereto ofa single pulse as an input
  • a plurality of such electro-optical networks can be formed on a singlecrystal substrate in matrix form to provide a radiation-coupled logic circuit.
  • An electro-optical network for selectively producing a single pulse or a pulse train in response to application thereto of a single trigger pulse, comprising an injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode in radiation-coupled relationship with a photoconductive element, a pulse-generating diode connected in series with said photoconductive element, a first electric circuit for applying a bias voltage to said injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode, an input means connected to said first electric circuit, a second electric circuit comprising a source of bias voltage connected to said series combination of the photoconductive element and the pulse-generating diode, and an output means connected to said second electric circuit, said first and second electric circuits being electrically isolated from but optically coupled with one another for transfer of energy from said first circuit of the injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode to said second circuit of the photoconductive element.
  • injection-electroluminescent pulse-generating diode comprises a semiconductor wafer of one conductivity type, a highly resistive region formed near one major surface of said wafer, a region of the opposite conductivity type formed near the opposite major surface of said wafer with a PN junction provided between said two regions, a pair of conducting electrodes each being held in ohmic contact with one of the major surfaces of said wafer.

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  • Led Devices (AREA)
  • Photo Coupler, Interrupter, Optical-To-Optical Conversion Devices (AREA)
  • Electronic Switches (AREA)
  • Light Receiving Elements (AREA)
US73052A 1969-09-20 1970-09-17 Electro-optical network for selectively producing a single pulse or pulse train in response thereto of a single trigger pulse Expired - Lifetime US3643099A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP7557269A JPS4912517B1 (ja) 1969-09-20 1969-09-20

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3643099A true US3643099A (en) 1972-02-15

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US73052A Expired - Lifetime US3643099A (en) 1969-09-20 1970-09-17 Electro-optical network for selectively producing a single pulse or pulse train in response thereto of a single trigger pulse

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3643099A (ja)
JP (1) JPS4912517B1 (ja)
CA (1) CA932036A (ja)
FR (1) FR2062395A5 (ja)
GB (1) GB1323363A (ja)
NL (1) NL7013836A (ja)

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2062395A5 (ja) 1971-06-25
CA932036A (en) 1973-08-14
GB1323363A (en) 1973-07-11
JPS4912517B1 (ja) 1974-03-25
DE2046244A1 (de) 1971-04-01
DE2046244B2 (de) 1975-07-31
NL7013836A (ja) 1971-03-23

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